A Denver District Court jury deliberated only two hours today before clearing a Denver police officer of third-degree-assault charges for allegedly smashing in the front teeth of a bicyclist in front of Coors Field last year.

Cpl. Michael Cordova, 33, a police officer for eight years, could have been discharged from the force had he been convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

Instead, a cheer went up from Cordova’s family, friends and fellow officers as Judge Brian Whitney read the six-person jury’s verdict. Cordova refused to comment to the media.

A videotape of the incident, shot by freelance sports photographer Jason Jewett on April 4, 2008, proved to be a two-edged sword in the case, initially clearing the bicyclist of charges of assaulting the cop. Based on what the videotape showed, the district attorney’s office used that evidence to turn around and charge Cordova instead.

This afternoon, after the verdict was handed down, a juror said that it was the same video, shown in slow motion, that convinced the jury that Cordova did not use excessive force on the bicyclist.

As a crowd gathered for the Colorado Rockies season opener, John Heaney, 59, rode his bicycle through a red light at West 20th Street and Blake Street, causing Cordova, who was working undercover looking for ticket scalpers, to confront him. A scuffle ensued, but Cordova and other officers told investigators that Heaney punched Cordova in the face then got into a fistfight with him.

Heaney was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer. His lawyer, Lonn Heymann, posted fliers in the area looking for witnesses.

Jewett’s videotape surfaced, as did three witnesses who said Heaney not only didn’t hit Cordova but that Cordova broke Heaney’s teeth by slamming his head into the pavement.

In December, DA Mitch Morrissey, citing the videotape, dismissed the charges against Heaney and charged Cordova with assault.

Cordova’s attorney, Marc Colin, said this afternoon that the CD copy of the tape the DA had was of such poor quality that it was hard to determine what actually happened.

“We subpoenaed the original footage on microcassette, then slowed it down to five frames per second,” Colin said later in the hallway. “That showed Officer Cordova moving Heaney’s head from side to side to control him, but never showed him smashing Heaney’s face into the pavement.”

Colin also subpoenaed an expert witness on dentistry, who testified that it was improbable Heaney’s teeth had been broken on the flat pavement because none of his protruding facial features — his nose, chin or lips — were injured or swollen.

Juror John Mayer, 48, a schoolteacher, said the tape persuaded the jury that Cordova was innocent.

“We watched the tape in slow motion to see the details,” he said. “It was clear that Heaney’s face wasn’t pushed into the pavement.”

Colin said he didn’t feel the DA’s office had overstepped its bounds by charging Cordova. “But I think they need to re-evaluate the evidence to see if it’s appropriate to charge Heaney again,” he said.

Attorney Heymann has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the Denver Police Department.

Florida’s state social services agency investigated Nikolas Cruz’s home life more than a year before police say he killed 17 people at his former high school, closing the inquiry after determining that his “final level of risk is low,” despite learning that the teenager had behavioral struggles and was planning to buy a gun, according to an investigative report.